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@nite-n l tot-2s getint.- @titte A. C. VARELA, OF ,WASHINGTON DISTRICT .OF COLUMBA.

Letters Patent Nb. 72,572, dated .December 244, 1867.

`iMPROVEiltlEblT IN BEE-RIVES.'

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERNE Be it known that I, A. C. VARELA, of Washingtomin the county of Washington, and District of Columbia, have invented certain Improvements on Bce-Hives; andI'do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which ,accompany and form part of this epecication, is a description of my invention suiiicient to enable those skilled in the art tokobtaina knowledge of its construction and operation.

The object of my inventionis so to construct a bee-hive, having a detnchable upper part, with sides sloping in. three directions in the 'upperA half, and in acontrary direction in the lower half of each compartment, and yet all at a large angle to the horizontal line, that all impurities and other foreign Substances will be precipitated-to the lowest point of each compartment; also yto concentrate in the vertices of each box the 'greatest amount of heat. In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is an elevation of the bee-hive, and

Figure 2 is also en elevation `ou the opposite eide, showing the upper chamber lifted above the lower.

Similar letters indicate the same parts in eachligure., .n

A is the lower ,chamber or moin hive; `Bthe upper chamber or honey-,box C, the iframe, on which the whole hive is to be supported, and which `may be continued tofl'su'pport any number of hiv'es. a is the ldoor or entrance to the lower box hooks, hywhich the uppervbo-Xis fastened tothe' lower; c, the hooks by which.

the lower is supported on the frame, "d' is the wenther-prooiv cap, toscoiver-the` opening in the upper cornerfof theplowerhox when the upper'box is renewed; j the'i'openingffllf I -fof doorleef or lighting-board; f', hinge side of .the same; g, small hole, covered with n perforated metallvplate, or .wire gauze, for ventilator- To construct this hive, itiso'nlynecessary to make or procure'ltwo cnbioal boxes, of any suitable Wood, dressed inside and out, measuring about twelve and 'one-halfvinches on the "inside, the plank to be abouteevenvreightlls of an inch inthiekness-after being dressed. Measure, from .L any-'onecorner, along each side half the distance to the other three nearest corners; and draw straight lines from these three points; Then, with a finetoothed saw,'cut off the corner, and the opening will be in the' shape of an equilateral triangle. Then, with o. chisel, bevel the sowed edges inwardly to t neatly onthe corner ofthe other box. 0n one side ofthe other box, near the top, cut a. lona slit, of sufficient size to admit the body of n queen bee to pass fromA the inside of the lower box into the upper. On the'three corners ofthe upper box nearest to the opening put in 'three ordinary staples ci' o hook. (The screw-stapleV is the best.) In the tlnfeev corners ofthe lower box neafrest to the top insert any stili` hooks, or other contrivance, to fitr into corresponding Aholes in the frame O. The upper hooks should be made of `inst such length as-to reach 'under -andl'asten to the lower hooks c. The corner of vthe lower box, where the' opening a is to bemode, must'be neatly .cut ofi', no as to make an opening -into the boxl just sutlicient for the proper entrance of the bees, and a lower shelf orlighting-board muet be hinged on, and

' so fastened by a hook having two staples that it may be lowered to a certain` dis-tance by one, or entirely closed by the other, and, if necessary, it may be allowedvto fall perpendieulnrly, and thus free it from all the droppings which may chance to fall upon and adhere to it, as all the sides of the lower box Shed their refuse, and it converges to this one point. Euch und all the sides of the two boxes must'be well adjusted to each other. To accomplish this, azrabbct-joint is preferable. One' of the lower sides of each box may serve nsjo. door to the same. For this purpose it should be fastened with screws only.' The extreme lower corner of the upper box which is out o may bo used as the cap cl, thus saving much labor and expense.

Itis not necessary to have alwoysthe upper -box attached to the lower or main'hive. In autumn, when the bees cease making honey'for the season, it should be removed, and kept nwaynn'til the comingspring, taking care to cover the aperture e with the caip nl. In this manner the main hive is also rendered very light and manageable for the purpose of hiving new swarms.

The object in this method of constructingl bec-hives is to unite simplicity with eiiicency. It is well known to all bee-'raisers that the plainest boxes are the best for the bees to work in; hence, in the wild'eections of theworld, where bees uninterruptedly work in o. state oinature, they work the best. But the products ot' their labor are hard to be obtained man; hence tbothousand contriya'iices to facilitate the taking of honey.

By the peculiar construction of. thishive, which has no level places where the bee-miller :night deposit her eggs, it is very probable that the bees will not be troubled by their natural and most fatal enemy, the moth.

Between the elaborate and expensive bee-palace and -the western hunters bee-gum, this hive presents a happy medium, in which are'found all'the desirable comforts, combined with safety, and yet the spare honey deposited in it can be taken away most successfully, folglwheri the upper chamber becomes full, it can be readily removed. The cap d 'can be placed'overltbe opening e, and thomain hive, with its winters store, will remain untouched during the winter vfor the use of the becs.

I do not claim hives nor honey-boxes with sloping roofs and bottoms merely, but What I claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement of two similarcubic boxes, A and B, oneinserted partly into the other in a direction'` parallel to the diagonale of a cube, and suspended in such marmer that only one of their corners points upward, substantially in the manner shown and set. forth.

2. The arrangement of a. weather-proof cap, d, of metal, or any other suitable material, to cover the aperture e that admits tbe bees into the upper or honey-box, as shown and described.

A. C. VARELA.

Witnesses:

J. M. SULLIVAN, WM. R. SINGLETON. 

